IS CHICK FOOD\STARTER OK FOR DUCKS?

i have 6 khakis are they supposed to eat chicken food?\chick starter?

please answer soon

from: lucky ducky9

No.

so............they r NOT sopposed to?

You should not use medicated chick starter for ducks.

what do u use? and what should i use?i gave them medicated chick starter......sorry should we switch it?
they r fine does it make them sick or something?

I used Dumor chick starter/grower....yellow bag and has a pic of a chick and duckling on it....

PetesMom said:

I used Dumor chick starter/grower....yellow bag and has a pic of a chick and duckling on it....

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I don't have ducks yet - getting them in a couple of weeks. I have been reading posts in this forum and most people agree that a true duck starter is best, but since it can be difficult to get it, unmedicated chick starter is okay as long as you add brewer's yeast into it to add niacin. if you don't add the yeast, the ducks get a vitamin deficiency and develop spraddle leg. I did see a post by someone who said that medicated is okay (in the past it was a problem but newer formulas are better) - but most people still tend to believe that unmedicated is the way to go. I believe the problem is that ducks eat a lot more food and they will over-medicate themselves.

I called Tractor Supply today to find out if the brands they carry, DuMor and Purina, are unmedicated. The salesman looked it up and said they are both unmedicated. I asked specifically about starter/grower which you can use when they are 3 weeks old. I didn't ask about starter (I have found that it is hard to find starter that is unmedicated for my chickens).

The salesman said that if the food is medicated it would specifically say that on the label. If it doesn't say anything about medication, then it is unmedicated. I'm not sure I believe that! I'd rather that the package stated that it was unmedicated. The active ingredients to look for in medicated feed are below - from another post:

Amprolium which goes by the trade names Corid and Amprovine, Amprolium, Amprol, Anticoccid and is a thiamine analog, competitively inhibits the active transport of thiamine (B1).

The second type of medication used is Lasalocid goes by the trade name Bovatec. Bovatec (lasalocid) is a coccidiocide that kills coccidia. It is an ionophore that moves potassium, sodium, calcium and magnesium into the cell causing the cell to burst. Bovatec works primarily on a single developmental stage of coccidia, providing a more narrow range of action than Deccox.

Hope this helps ... maybe someone who actually has ducks can chime in!

I personally would not use it. I prefer Purina Flock raiser.

kuntrygirl said:

I personally would not use it. I prefer Purina Flock raiser.

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Do you add brewer's yeast to the Purina Flock Raiser?

MyBlackHen said:

kuntrygirl said:

I personally would not use it. I prefer Purina Flock raiser.

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Do you add brewer's yeast to the Purina Flock Raiser?  

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No, I don't. I have been raising ducks for years and have not had one single duck that has had spraddle leg. The number of hatchings that I have are as many as 150 ducklings. I have not lost a single duckling to any illnesses or deformities and have been using flockraiser for years.